BACKGROUND
The role of postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) in patients with resected stage IIIA non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) remains controversial. The purpose of this study was to explore the effect of PORT on survival of these patients.

METHODS
Patients aged ≥18 years with stage IIIA NSCLC were identified in the SEER database from 2010 through 2015. Cox regression analysis was used to identify independant prognostic factors in patients with stage IIIA NSCLC. Subgroup analysis of patients stratified by N stage was also performed. Overall survival and lung cancer-related death were compared among the different groups by using Kaplan-Meier analysis and competitive risk analysis.

RESULTS
A total of 5,168 patients (1,711 of whom received PORT) were included in the study. In multivariable analysis, PORT was an independent prognostic risk factor for patients with N1 stage (hazard ratio [HR], 1.416, 95% CI, 1.144-1.753; P=.001). PORT was a favorable prognostic factor for patients with stage IIIA, N2 disease with ≥6 positive lymph nodes (HR, 0.742; 95% CI, 0.587-0.938; P=.012). Median survival time of patients with stage IIIA, N2 disease with ≥6 positive lymph nodes who received postoperative chemotherapy combined with PORT was significantly longer compared with those who received postoperative chemotherapy alone (32 vs 25 months, respectively; P=.009). The competitive risk model revealed that 3- and 5-year lung cancer-related mortality rates increased by 8.99% and 16.92%, respectively, in patients with N1 disease who were treated with PORT, whereas the 3-year mortality rate decreased by 4.67% and the 5-year mortality rate by 10.08% in patients with N2 disease and ≥6 positive lymph nodes who were treated using PORT.

CONCLUSIONS
Our results revealed that PORT significantly improved overall survival and decreased lung cancer-related mortality in patients with stage IIIA, N2 disease with ≥6 positive lymph node metastases. PORT was not recommended for patients with N0 and N1 disease.


Monopoly Capital had an outstanding impact on students of my generation. It was published just as the Vietnam War was heating up, when students and youth throughout the world were beginning to "contest the structures"—to use a favorite expression of that time—and were eagerly looking for analyses of these "structures." Monopoly Capital, written jointly by two renowned Marxist economists, each of whom had already authored a classic, provided just that. It was avidly read in progressive circles around the world.… For students of economics like myself, there was an additional reason for its impact. Economic literature from both the Communist world and from Communist writers in the West tended to underplay the problem of aggregate demand. While Marx had been a trenchant critic of Say's Law and had highlighted the demand problem, it was by this time seen at most as a problem underlying periodic crises, but not one that could affect capitalism in a secular sense, ex ante.Click here to purchase a PDF version of this article at the Monthly Review website.


A prime question in the formation and early evolution of the Solar system studies is to discern the source(s) of short-lived now extinct nuclides and to determine the ab-initio isotopic composition of our Solar System (ref. 1). The proposed genesis of a short-lived now extinct radionuclide,10Be, by spallation reactions of carbon and oxygen led to the hypothesis of enhanced irradiation in the early Solar system (ref. 2-8). An alternative scenario of production of 10Be (t1/2 =1.386 +- 0.016 million years (ref.9)) by neutrino process in a low mass star (11.8Msun) core collapse supernova has been recently suggested (ref. 10) that can explain the observed abundance of 10Be in the early Solar System. Here, we report well resolved excesses in 7Li/6Li of up to ~21.5 percent in a Type B1 Ca,-Al rich inclusion (CAI) from the Efremovka meteorite that correlate with 9Be/6Li, suggestive of in situ decay of 7Be. The in situ decay of 7Be, with characteristic half-life of 53.12+- 0.07 days (ref. 11) to 7Li, entails multiple episodes of enhanced irradiation in the ESS. The short half-life of 7Be limits its production by interaction of Solar energetic particles with the nebular gas and solids and provides constraints on genealogy and chronology of CAIs. Irradiation of precursor solids/gas of CAIs of Solar composition by a superflare (Lx=10 exp(32) erg/sec) during the terminal phase of class I or II of pre-main sequence stages of the Sun cogently explains the isotopic properties, distinctive petrographic features, and diffusivity constraints in the CAI.


This paper analyzed the length, width, and location of shakes in the air-drying process of larch log (Larix principis-rupprechtii Mayr) 1 m long and 66% initial moisture content. The development law and distribution characteristics of shakes during log drying of larch were studied and shake generation and development law were analyzed from two aspects of microstructure and growth defects. The variation of dry shrinkage deformation along the radial direction and knot influence on it was analyzed using the split-shaped stress test strips. At the cellular level, the cell wall shrinkage behavior of heartwood and sapwood and the microstructure of knots were observed. The results showed a significant relationship between eccentricity and shake distribution; the IIa region is the most prone to dry shake. The evolution of shakes is closely related to the drying rate. In the high-speed drying stage (MC ≥ 40%), shakes almost do not occur; in the decelerating drying stage (40% ≥ MC ≥ 20%), the amount, length, and width of shakes increase rapidly. In the low-speed drying stage (20% ≥MC), the area of shakes tends to stabilize or even decline. The main reasons for dry shaking are the dry shrinkage difference between tangential and radial cell walls, early and late wood, heartwood and sapwood, and moisture content gradient during the drying process.


This work covers over 800+ of the best history Web sites for teachers, students, and patrons. Educator and technology trainer Thomas Daccord has painstakingly selected and compiled this guide to the best history sites for use in high school, academic, and public libraries. "The Best of History Web Sites" is the quickest path to a rich variety of content, including multimedia presentations, subject gateways, lesson plans and activities, primary resources, interactive quizzes and games, virtual tours, maps and atlases, statistical collections, and more. Based on his award-winning Internet portal, this new resource describes over 800+ Web sites covering United States, ancient and medieval, and modern history. Each entry includes the complete URL and a detailed annotation. Unique to this resource are easy-to-identify categories that indicate the type of content featured on the site; grade level recommendations; and "Best Of" selections that identify the best e-texts, research and plagiarism sources, advanced placement study guides, virtual tours, and more. Two special introductory chapters help librarians and educators learn to locate and evaluate history Web sites and integrate them into the educational or library setting. Librarians and educators will find this an ideal starting place for designing lesson plans, helping students complete assignments, getting researchers started on specific subjects, creating pathfinders, or even answering history-related reference questions.


OBJECTIVES
To observe and assess the diagnostic value of contrast-enhanced ultrasound (CEUS) in patients with iso-/hypervascular solid pancreatic lesions.

METHODS
70 pancreatic lesions (all confirmed by surgery or biopsy pathology) that manifested iso-/hyperenhancement on CEUS were retrospectively studied from January 2018 to January 2022, including 24 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC), 15 mass-forming pancreatitis (MFP), 24 pancreatic neuroendocrine tumors (PNET) (14 hyper-PNETs, 10 iso-PNETs), and 7 solid pseudopapillary tumors (SPTP). 65 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinomas (PDAC) that manifested hypoenhancement on CEUS were retrospectively studied from January 2020 to January 2022. CEUS patterns and the clinical and pathologic features were analyzed, and the diagnostic ability of CEUS for iso/hyperenhanced solid pancreatic lesions was assessed.

RESULTS
Centripetal enhancement, heterogeneous enhancement, early washout, and hypoenhancement in the late phase mostly appeared in iso-/hyper-PDACs (p < 0.05). Heterogeneous enhancement in small lesions (< 3 cm) as the diagnostic criterion for iso-/hyper-PDACs had an accuracy of 74.3% and a specificity of 91.3%. Iso-PNETs more commonly had larger tumor sizes and more often showed heterogeneous enhancement than hyper-PNETs (p = 0.007, p = 0.035, respectively). The characteristics of the combination of isoenhancement, homogeneous enhancement, and synchronous wash-in/out for MFP had a high accuracy of 90%. Capsular enhancement with heterogeneous enhancement inside for solid pseudopapillary tumors had an accuracy of 97.1%.

CONCLUSION
CEUS enhancement patterns have potentially great value in the differentiation of iso-/hyperenhanced pancreatic lesions.


In recent decades a critical sociology and politics of difference has been at the forefront of the study of normality. Key aims of this are to contest hierarchies of privilege and to question appeals to sameness as the basis for inclusion. Analysing data from two studies carried out in the north east of England (one with disabled youths and one with lesbian and gay youths), this article responds to this work by examining young people's negotiations of ableist and heteronormative constructions of normality. The article shows how the young people sought to disrupt the privileges of this normality whilst also claiming a sense of 'likeness' to others. The article concludes by discussing the need to consider the use of a language of likeness and inclusion in young people's everyday politics of belonging.


OBJECTIVES This study sought to determine the influence of stature on atrial fibrillation (AF) in high-risk patients with reduced left ventricular (LV) systolic function. BACKGROUND Left atrial (LA) enlargement is a potent risk factor for AF. Because LA size is strongly associated with stature, we hypothesized that height and body surface area (BSA) are risk factors for AF, independent of other known associations. METHODS Data were obtained from ADVANCENT, a multicenter registry of patients with impaired LV function. Height and BSA were divided into quartiles by gender. Statistical analysis was done using the Cochran Mantel-Haenszel statistic, and multivariable logistic regressions were used to adjust for the effects of known confounders on the association between stature and AF. RESULTS A total of 25,268 patients were enrolled. The mean age was 66 years, and the cohort consisted mostly of white men (72%) and patients with ischemic cardiomyopathy (72%). The mean left ventricular ejection fraction was 31%. A history of AF was present in 7,027 patients (27.8%). The AF prevalence increased significantly between the lowest and highest quartiles for height (32% relative increase, p 0.0001). In the multivariable analysis, the effect of height on AF risk persisted after adjusting for age, gender, race, left ventricular ejection fraction, heart failure class and etiology, hypertension, diabetes, and medication use (odds ratio 1.026/cm, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.022 to 1.030). In the multivariable analysis, BSA was also an independent predictor of AF risk (odds ratio 4.221/m, 95% CI 3.358 to 5.306). CONCLUSIONS In patients with LV dysfunction, increasing stature portends a higher risk of AF independent of other traditional risk factors for the arrhythmia. This association seems to account for the higher prevalence of AF in men and may be useful for identification of a high-risk population. (J Am Coll Cardiol 2006;47:1683–8) © 2006 by the American College of ublished by Elsevier Inc. doi:10.1016/j.jacc.2005.11.068


Detailed frequency-dependent formulations are presented for several efficient locally one-dimensional finite-difference time-domain methods (LOD-FDTDs) based on the recursive convolution (RC), piecewise linear RC (PLRC), trapezoidal RC (TRC), auxiliary differential equation, and \mmb Z transform techniques. The performance of each technique is investigated through the analyses of surface plasmon waveguides, the dispersions of which are expressed by the Drude and Drude-Lorentz models. The simple TRC technique requiring a single convolution integral is found to offer the comparable accuracy to the PLRC technique with two convolution integrals. As an application, a plasmonic grating filter is studied using the TRC-LOD-FDTD. The use of an apodized and a chirped grating is found quite effective in reducing sidelobes in the transmission spectrum, maintaining a large bandgap. Furthermore, a plasmonic microcavity is analyzed, in which a defect section is introduced into a grating filter. Varying the air core width is shown to exhibit tunable properties of the resonance wavelength.


problem, and only an alteration of the current procedures can achieve an improvement. Whether this alteration is to take the form of an adjustment in the current method of court attendance, or whether a new system is necessary, remalns to be seen. The method of affidavit evidence appears to function satisfactorily in other parts of the world and requires consideration. However, I am firmly in favour of a hearing of this problem, in an attempt to improve the current unsatisfactory situation. Nothing is to be gained by falsely denying its existence.


Gaussian quadrature, a numerical integration technique through fixed points, is applied to improve accuracy and efficiency in the cross-section balance modeling of a slope subjected to progressive displacements. This integration is employed to compute geometrical areas of individual stratigraphic units that have participated in the deformation. Given the initial and final states of a natural slope in which progressive failure has been carefully monitored for 7 years, the internal geometry of four stratigraphic layers that were displaced in a manner that characterizes the displacement kinematics of the entire slope has been analyzed. The area differences between the initial and final sections for three of the layers are zero. A fourth, basal, layer shows a unit area reduction of 13 percent, which can be accounted for by toe erosion. This implies that the total internal geometric area is found to be preserved during the course of the progressive deformation, a fact that is evident in repeated ground surveys conducted during the 7-year history of displacement. Also, factors of safety computed for the basal surface of slip at the initial and final stages of displacement monitoring demonstrate that the slope became less stable over a period of 7 years as a result of the progressive failure. Such a reduction in stability would be difficult to quantify without the application of numerical integration that allows the accurate construction of area-balanced geometrical models in a digital format amenable to validation and stability analysis.


There are numerous causes and consequences of racial residential segregation in American metropolitan areas, and a long-standing literature is filled with debates about them. We provide an overview of the trends and patterns regarding racial residential segregation, focusing primarily on blacks and whites. We pay special attention to the competing arguments about race and class in the context of residential stratification. We then discuss the many causes of residential segregation, and its social and economic consequences. After the overview, we identify key gaps in the literature. We discuss three broad substantive areas of research that expand the study of racial residential segregation: (i) the everyday experiences of race, class, and gender disadvantage as they are related to segregation; (ii) contemporary immigration streams and their impact on black-white residential dynamics; and (iii) the power of political-economic forces to transform residentially segregated spaces, with a particular emphasis on processes related to gentrification and home mortgage lending.


Background: In traditional medicine, many herbal medicines like lamiaceae family are used as treatment for dementia. Lamiaceae family has many pharmacological effects including antioxidant, anti-cholinesterase, antimicrobial, anticancer, anti-inflammatory and enhancing cognition and memory. Salvia mirzayanii is one of the species of this family and has been used as an herbal medicine for many years. The purpose of this study was to examine the effect of essential oil of S. mirzayanii on learning and memory in mice using the two passive avoidance methods. Materials and Methods: The aerial parts of the plant were dried in shade and essential oils were obtained using clevenger apparatus. The active components in the essential oils of the plant were also identified using the gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC/MS). Onehundred and forty mice classified into different groups (n=10) were received certain doses of diazepam (0.5, 1 and 1.5 mg/kg) or the essential oil of S. mirzayanii (0.48, 0.96 and 1.92 mg/kg) by gavage tube. The step-down and step-through latencies were used to evaluate the learning and memory. Results: S. mirzayanii essential oil significantly increased the step-down and step-through latency times in both methods (P<0.01). Conclusion: Essential oil of S. mirzayanii can enhance learning and memory in mice and it has the potential of protection against Alzheimer and dementia.


Working parents and child care programs are here to stay. The pediatrician has many opportunities to advocate for children concerning child care, both in encounters with parents in the office and in roles played in the community. By focusing attention on the determinants of the quality of child care, the pediatrician can minimize the risks and enhance the potential benefits of child care program participation.


Driverless cars are a hot topic in today's industry where several vehicle manufacturers try to create a reliable system for automated driving. The advantages of highly automated vehicles are many, safer roads and a lower environmental impact are some of the arguments for this technology. However, the notion of highly automated cars give rise to a large number of human factor issues regarding the safety and reliability of the automated system as well as concern about the driver's role in the system. The purpose of this study was to explore the effects of systematic variations in traffic complexity and external time pressure on decision-making time in a simulated situation using a web-based testing platform. A secondary focus was to examine whether measures of cognitive performance and driver attitudes have an effect on decision-making time. The results show that systematic variations in both time pressure and traffic complexity have an effect on decision-making time. This indicates that drivers are able to adapt their decision-making to facilitate the requirements of a certain situation. The results also indicate that intelligence; speed of processing and driver attitudes has an effect on decision-making time.


Atomic density is a basic and important parameter in quantum optics, nonlinear optics, and precision measurement.In the past few decades, several methods have been used to measure atomic density, such as thermionic effect, optical absorption, and resonance fluorescence. The main error of these experiments stemmed from depopulation of the energy level, self-absorption, and the broad bandwidth of the laser. Here we demonstrate the atomic density of87 Rb vapor in paraffin coated cell between 297 K and 334 K mainly using fluorescence measurement. Optical pumping, anti-relaxation coating, and absorption compensation approaches are used to decrease measurement error. These measurement methods are suitable for vapor temperature at dozens of degrees. The fitting function for the experimental data of87 Rb atomic density is given.


A method is proposed for the design of two-channel linear-phase FIR QMF banks satisfying prescribed reconstruction and stopband errors. The method is integrated with a weighted minimax design of QMF banks based on an iterative method proposed by Chen and Lee (1992) with certain modifications based on the weighted least-squares (WLS) updating scheme proposed by Sunder and Ramachandran (1994). The method is simple and a design example is presented.


Introduction Progressive familial intrahepatic cholestasis type 3 or MDR3 deficiency is a chronic autosomal recessive liver disease. It typically presents in the first months of life and progresses to cirrhosis and liver failure before adulthood. Case report We report on a 2 year old boy with jaundice, coluric urine and clay coloured stools since he was 12 months old. He was the sixth son of non-consanguineous parents. There were no problems during the controlled pregnancy. He was a healthy term infant with a birth weight of 3000 g and a neonatal period without incidences. In the initial physical exploration he had good appearance, good nutritive status, cutaneous-mucous jaundice, 3–4 cm. hepatomegaly and 6–7 cm. splenomegaly, with prominent collateral blood vessels. He had a normal phenotype with normal cardiopulmonary auscultation. Serum analysis revealed hypertransaminasemia (AST 211 U/L, ALT 156 U/L, GGT 789 U/L), high levels of bile acids (450 μmol/L, normal (0–6)) and hyperbilirrubinemia with a direct bilirubin of 9'2 mg/dl. Abdominal ultrasound revealed portal hypertension and 10.5 cm. splenomegaly. The liver histology showed extensive bile duct proliferation, portal and periportal fibrosis. Complete absence of canalicular staining was also observed. He received treatment with ursodeoxycholic acid and nutritional support. Conclusions MDR3 deficiency should be clinically suspected in those children who present with cholestasis and cirrhosis with high GGT. Pharmacological treatment with UDCA is successful in approximately 30% of the cases. Patients who do not respond should be considered for liver transplantation, as in our case.


Most patients with asthma do not receive antibiotics when they experience an exacerbation. In contrast, most patients with COPD exacerbations do indeed receive antibiotics. However, studies have shown that while some subgroups of patients with asthma or COPD may benefit from antibiotics, others do not. In this era of antibiotic stewardship, it is of crucial importance to use objective criteria when deciding whether or not to give antibiotics. Biomarkers, such as procalcitonin, could be helpful when making this decision. There is a clear need for well-designed and high-quality studies with enough power to evaluate the usage of these kinds of biomarkers.


In response to the recent report of school outbreaks of parvovirus B19 infection in Portugal [1], Heath Kelly and Jennie Leydon of the Western Pacific Regional Measles Laboratory, have echoed the call for parvovirus B19 tests to be included in measles and rubella surveillance


We explore how introducing a non-trivial Mordell-Weil group changes the structure of the Coulomb phases of a five-dimensional gauge theory from an M-theory compactified on an elliptically fibered Calabi-Yau threefolds with a I$_2$+I$_4$ collision of singularities. The resulting gauge theory has a semi-simple Lie algebra $\mathfrak{su}(2)\oplus \mathfrak{sp}(4)$ or $\mathfrak{su}(2)\oplus \mathfrak{su}(4)$. We compute topological invariants relevant for the physics, such as the Euler characteristic, Hodge numbers, and triple intersection numbers. We determine the matter representation geometrically by computing weights via intersection of curves and fibral divisors. We fix the number of charged hypermultiplets transforming in each representations by comparing the triple intersection numbers and the one-loop prepotential. This condition is enough to fix the number of representation when the Mordell-Weil group is $\mathbb{Z}_2$ but not when it is trivial. The vanishing of the fourth power of the curvature forms in the anomaly polynomial is enough to fix the number of representations. We discuss anomaly cancellations of the six-dimensional uplifted. In particular, the gravitational anomaly is also considered as the Hodge numbers are computed explicitly without counting the degrees of freedom of the Weierstrass equation.


We revisit the common practice of evaluating adaptation of Online Continual Learning (OCL) algorithms through the metric of online accuracy, which measures the accuracy of the model on the immediate next few samples. However, we show that this metric is unreliable, as even vacuous blind classifiers, which do not use input images for prediction, can achieve unrealistically high online accuracy by exploiting spurious label correlations in the data stream. Our study reveals that existing OCL algorithms can also achieve high online accuracy, but perform poorly in retaining useful information, suggesting that they unintentionally learn spurious label correlations. To address this issue, we propose a novel metric for measuring adaptation based on the accuracy on the near-future samples, where spurious correlations are removed. We benchmark existing OCL approaches using our proposed metric on large-scale datasets under various computational budgets and find that better generalization can be achieved by retaining and reusing past seen information. We believe that our proposed metric can aid in the development of truly adaptive OCL methods. We provide code to reproduce our results at https://github.com/drimpossible/EvalOCL.


Pinning by second phase particles offers a potent means for limiting grain growth and enhancing superplasticity in alumina-based ceramics. In the present study, a colloidal technique was used to produce green bodies of alumina-yttria composites; at elevated temperatures, the yttria particles react with alumina to produce YAG particles. The densification and high temperature deformation characteristics of alumina-YAG composites were studied using conventional free sintering and sinter-forging, which involves the application of a compressive stress without any lateral constraints. It is shown that the YAG particles retard both densification and grain growth. The experiments indicate also that the presence of YAG particles does not significantly alter the stress exponent for creep deformation.


African elections are unique in several respects; in ethno-religiously divided nations, elections are often decided on the basis of candidates' ethnic or religious affiliations rather than political ideologies. In Nigeria for example, campaigns differ greatly from what is obtainable in other countries. For example, music plays a huge role in the outcome of elections in Nigeria. It also significantly determines whether or not the elections will be violent or non-violent. This is because music evokes emotions and connects with people in a personal and intimate way. This study critically examines the two-edged nature of music's effect on society and offers some evidence to demonstrate that music can help in fostering peace in the society particularly as it concerns peaceful elections. Adopting an ethnographic research methodology, the article's argument draws on examples from Ghana, Kenya and Nigeria, countries where the medium of music was fittingly utilised to promote peaceful non-violent elections. Keywords : elections, music, non-violence, peace, violence, Nigeria.


The airflow around a simplified train model is investigated using a three-dimensional $gamma-widetilde{Re}_{theta t}$ transitional approach. Four different yaw angles ($theta = 10^{circ}, 20^{circ}, 30^{circ}$, and $40^{circ}$) perpendicular to the body of the simplified train model are considered which the magnitude of front air-flow is constant, and the magnitude of crosswind determines by yaw angle. The main aim of the research is to investigate the influences of the yaw angle and roughness on the time-averaged flow structure, turbulent quantities such as turbulent kinetic energy, dissipation rate, and the aerodynamic forces such as skin friction and pressure coefficients. The findings show that the yaw angle has a pronounced influence on the three-dimensional flow structure around the high-speed train. As the yaw angle augments, the aerodynamic forces like skin friction and pressure coefficients increase. Furthermore, the roughness has a negligible effect on the pressure coefficient. Also, the skin friction coefficient locally increases in the rough train body.


In this paper, a new approach is proposed for the optimum design of single-phase induction motor. By using the classical design equations and the evolutionary algorithms such as Genetic Algorithms (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Modified Particle Swarm Optimization (MPSO), a Single Phase Induction Motor (SPIM) was designed with the maximum efficiency. The Finite Element Method (FEM) was used to achieve an accurate model of the motor. This model was used to validate the optimum design instead of implementing it practically that would be expensive. Results show that the efficiency of the motor designed by MPSO is higher compared to the ones designed by other methods. So this algorithm can be proposed as an appropriate tool in design of single-phase induction motors.


This paper focuses on the question of where we are now with our understanding of the C1 level of the Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). The CEFR has had a dramatic impact on the fields of English language teaching and testing. The project which is the topic of this paper hoped to bring clarity to our understanding of an under-specified and under-described level (Green, 2012). This new understanding could aid test developers when creating tests. The project was based on the British Council/EAQUALS Core Inventory of General English (henceforth Core Inventory). The Core Inventory was an attempt to match language points with CEFR levels. The current project aimed to provide data-based evidence conducted with learners to support an existing theoretical work. MA TESOL students with IELTS score of 6.5 or above were invited to take a test of written and spoken English. The scripts were analysed with ATLAS.ti software to identify which of the features described as core in the Core Inventory were found in the scripts and with what level of frequency. The software was used on both the written and audio data. The language points which could be considered criterial tended to be those relating to argumentation and expressing feelings and attitudes precisely. There is some evidence to suggest that giving advice could be considered to be criterial. Perhaps the significance of the project lies in the creation of an approach to identifying criterial features using the Core Inventory.


Prostereoisomerism (PIM), representing a subgroup within the achiral class of molecules, is manifested in a chiral environment. Although this is regardless of the orientation of the prostereoisomeric (PIC) molecule, PIM is manifested most emphatically in relation to a chiral surface (`two-dimensional chirality'). Then PIM is tantamount to `de facto chirality' as attachment of the PIC molecule to the surface leads to diastereomeric possibilities (cf. Ogston's hypothesis). Furthermore, the formation of host--guest complexes requires a steric complementarity between the component molecules. The fact that the weak dispersive forces involved therein require an optimum distance implies a `snugness of fit' criterion. This further implies that a chiral host prefers a chiral guest molecule, and a chiral surface prefers a PIC molecule as substrate. These indicate a general stereochemical criterion for host--guest complexation that is particularly relevant to the case of biological receptors. Indeed, a survey of several known achiral drug molecules indicates that they generally possess at least one PIC moiety, lending credence to the above arguments. Thus, it would appear that PIM represents a maximum level of molecular symmetry for biological activity to be manifested efficiently.


The present review is based mainly on papers published between 2000 and 2011 and gives information about the properties of the carotenoid lycopene in chemical and biological systems and its possible role in preventing cardiovascular diseases (CVD). The main aim of this report is to highlight its role as an antioxidant, also reported are bioactive properties that may influence the development of foam cells and protection against endothelial cell damage. The paper will also examine recent observations that lycopene may improve blood flow and reduce inflammatory responses. Lycopene possesses antioxidant properties in vitro, and some epidemiological studies have reported protective effects against the progression of CVD. The oxidation of human low density lipoproteins (LDL) is a fundamental mechanism in the initiation of atherosclerosis. A beneficial role of lycopene as antioxidant in the prevention of CVD is suggested but the data are still controversial. Lycopene is believed to be the most potent carotenoid antioxidant in vitro. Tissue culture experiments and animal studies support potential cardioprotective effects for lycopene and other carotenoids in the blood. Most studies showed beneficial effects of lycopene to individuals who are antioxidant-deficient like elderly patients, or humans exposed to higher levels of oxidative stress like smokers, diabetics, hemodialysis patients and acute myocardial infarction patients. By defining the right population and combining antioxidant potentials of lycopene with vitamins and other bioactive plant compounds, the beneficial role of lycopene in CVD can be clarified in future studies.
Keywords: Atherosclerosis, isomerization, in vitro, in vivo, LDL oxidatin


We are living in a complex and ever changing world. Policy makers, managers and leaders today are expected to cope with increasing complexity, change, and diversity. Traditional and reductionist approaches have shown their inability to address such complex problems. Increasing complex issues and challenges in curating the conditions for a flourishing planet require new ways of thinking and a fresh approach to address the multi-dimensional and multidisciplinary nature of complexity. This paper argues that there is an urgent need for a societal change to deal with complexity in a world that focuses on reductionist approaches (breaking into parts; traditional linear thinking; seeking silver bullets). The need to step outside our collective 'comfort zone', develop new ways of thinking and act in the interest of our future is crucial. It is essential for future managers and leaders to be equipped with new ways of thinking that are systems thinking and design-led to deal with complex problems in a systemic, integrated and collaborative fashion - that is, finding long-lasting solutions to the root causes of issues rather than focusing on short-term fixes that doesn't work. System thinking offers a holistic and integrative way of appreciating all the major dimensions of a complex problem, and enables the formation of effective and long-term management strategies (systemic interventions). The paper provides examples of how taking systems thinking out into the real world could help shifting the mindsets of managers and decision makers to avoid project failures and money wasting in complex project management and discusses the importance of 'systems thinking' to become 'everyday language' and a main stream concept embedded in all walks of life.


Purpose - The purpose of this paper was to review the effectiveness of telephone interviewing for capturing data and to consider in particular the challenges faced by telephone interviewers when capturing information about market segments. Design/methodology/approach - The platform for this methodological critique was a market segment analysis commissioned by Sport Wales which involved a series of 85 telephone interviews completed during 2010. Two focus groups involving the six interviewers involved in the study were convened to reflect on the researchers' experiences and the implications for business and management research. Findings - There are three principal sets of findings. First, although telephone interviewing is generally a cost-effective data collection method, it is important to consider both the actual costs (i.e. time spent planning and conducting interviews) as well as the opportunity costs (i.e. missed appointments, "chasing participants"). Second, researchers need to be sensitised to and sensitive to the demographic characteristics of telephone interviewees (insofar as these are knowable) because responses are influenced by them. Third, the anonymity of telephone interviews may be more conducive for discussing sensitive issues than face-to-face interactions. Originality/value - The present study adds to this modest body of literature on the implementation of telephone interviewing as a research technique of business and management. It provides valuable methodological background detail about the intricate, personal experiences of researchers undertaking this method "at a distance" and without visual cues, and makes explicit the challenges of telephone interviewing for the purposes of data capture.


Recently, alterations in poultry farming have been much more than other branches of agriculture. This case also achieves a great deal of success in terms of efficiency. Increasing productivity in broiler production is one of the most important issue and researches are increasing day by day. Both during incubation and after hatching, applications are aimed at increasing productivity, growth and development. In this study, the development of sensory organs in chicks and the effects of the applications through sensory organs are emphasized. Especially in recent years, studies on odor, colour and light have been increasing. In the chick sex posed to some applications during incubation, the effects of these applications after hatching have been observed in most studies. To increase these effects positively, more intensive research should be conducted and positive developments should be recorded in broiler production. Broiler development and growth occurs with feed consumption. The earlier the chicks are fed and the more feed is eaten during growth, the more production occurs at slaughter age. For this reason, the importance of the senses in terms of their effect on the feeding behavior is discussed in this study.


Nitrogen and potassium are key nutrients for optimum productivity in Musa species. In this study, optimum doses of N and K were determined for two plantain genotypes. The growth and dry matter yield (DMY) of 'PITA 24' (a hybrid plantain of the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture) and a landrace, 'Agbagba' were evaluated on factorial doses of N (0, 200, 400 and 600 kg.ha-1) and K2O (0, 300, 600 and 900 kg.ha-1). The nutrient use efficiencies of the applied nutrients were also studied. Analysis of variance showed that fertilizer combination significantly (p<0.05) influenced the genotype performance and genotype-by-fertilizer interaction effects. Growth and DMY in both genotypes were superior where both nutrients were applied together. 'PITA 24' maintained a better growth, higher DMY, and greater efficiency of nutrient use than 'Agbagba'. Both genotypes had the best growth where N was applied at 200 or 400 kg.ha-1 in combination with 300, 600 or 900 kg.ha-1 of K2O. The control plants were the poorest. Agronomic efficiency (AE) of applied K+ was high at N200K300, N400K300, and N600K300; similarly, AE of applied N was superior at N200K600, N200K300, and N200K900. The partial factor productivity from the applied nutrients was highest at N200K300, suggesting that it was most economical to grow plantain with 200 kg N and 300 kg K2O ha-1. For optimum performance of plantains in the humid tropics of southeastern Nigeria, results from the study suggest the combined application of 200 to 400 kg N and 300 to 600 kg K2O per hectare, per annum.

 Key words: Plantains, dry matter yield, nutrient use efficiency.


The stratospheric potential vorticity (PV) field in the current climate, its variations around the occurrence of a sudden stratospheric warming, and possible future changes are examined. The PV presents a compact way to describe the state of the atmosphere, and is linked to all other dynamical fields through the invertibility principle. Local changes in the PV have a nonlocal effect on the wind field, so that changes in the stratospheric PV can be related to circulation changes in the troposphere, making it possible to study the role of the stratosphere in climate. The seasonal cycle of the stratospheric polar cap PV anomaly (the PV anomaly is defined as that part of the PV that induces a wind field according to the PV inversion equation) is related to radiative effects. A positive polar PV anomaly forms in autumn and winter due to radiative cooling in the polar night, and vanishes in spring due to absorption of solar radiation by ozone. The formation of the vortex in autumn is similar for the Northern Hemisphere (NH) and the Southern Hemisphere (SH), but waves affect the NH stratosphere throughout winter, weakening the vortex compared to the less disturbed SH vortex. The stronger and colder SH vortex allows for (more) ozone depletion in spring, leading to a delayed break up of the SH vortex. In summer, the easterly stratospheric flow prohibits wave propagation to the stratosphere in both hemispheres, resulting in small interhemispheric differences. Wave forcing of the stratosphere from below can not only explain interhemispheric differences, but also interannual variability of the winter stratosphere. On average, about 50% of the interannual variability in the state of the stratosphere that is observed in the NH can be explained by the interannual variations in the 100 hPa heat flux, which is a measure of the wave forcing of the stratosphere. For the monthly mean climatology, the influence of the stratosphere on the tropospheric winds is small, but for individual winters the influence can be substantial, on monthly as well as daily timescales. The stratospheric changes that accompanied the major sudden stratospheric warming in January 2009, for example, resulted in an easterly wind forcing of about 5 m/s on the tropospheric winds. Furthermore, the influence of the stratosphere on the tropospheric winds was felt until months after the warming event, indicating that inclusion of stratospheric processes in models might improve extended range weather forecasts. Due to CO2 increases, the SH stratospheric PV increases in winter, related to enhanced stratospheric emission of longwave radiation to space. In the NH, CO2 increases are associated with a decrease in the stratospheric polar PV in winter, related to an increased stratospheric wave forcing. The stratospheric changes that result from CO2 increases in a climate model also influence the tropospheric winds. Although the magnitude of the tropospheric response related to stratospheric changes is small, it is of the same order of magnitude as the total tropospheric response, indicating that changes in the stratosphere can certainly modify the tropospheric response to climate change.


Long-term wolf (Canis lupus) research programs have provided many insights into wolf population dynamics. Understanding the mechanisms controlling responses of wolf populations to changes in density, environmental conditions, and human-caused mortality are important as wolf management becomes increasingly intensive. Competition with humans for ungulate prey has led to large-scale wolf control programs, particularly in Alaska, and although wolf populations may sustain relatively high (e.g., 22–29%) rates of conventional harvest, control programs are specifically designed to have lasting population-level effects.

Understanding the broader impacts of wolf control efforts on the surrounding area is of particular concern for conservation agencies such as the United States National Park Service, whose mandates generally preclude the artificial reduction of populations of native predators, particularly for the primary purpose of increasing available prey biomass for human harvest. Detailed assessments of the factors influencing population vital rates (i.e., survival, natality, dispersal) and population trajectory in the context of control efforts are critical for understanding complex ecological relationships between wolves and their prey and informing management of each. Using a long-term dataset and a powerful new integrated modeling approach, we assessed the effects of wolf control on the dynamics of a monitored wolf population residing primarily within an adjacent protected area where wolf control activities were prohibited.

We monitored wolf population dynamics in Yukon-Charley Rivers National Preserve (YUCH) in interior Alaska, USA for 22 years (1993–2014). During our study, 2 large-scale wolf control programs were implemented in the surrounding area with the primary goal of increasing the size of the Fortymile caribou herd. We used known-fate data based on relocations of marked wolves and repeated counts of associated pack mates to estimate survival, dispersal, and natality rates. We jointly analyzed these data using an integrated modeling approach, thereby providing inference to the entire resident, pack-dwelling population of wolves using YUCH. Apparent survival (i.e., including mortalities and dispersals) was lower in the study area during the lethal control period, indicating a direct additive effect of control despite the prohibition of control efforts inside YUCH boundaries. Apparent survival was higher in years following winters with above-average snowfall, corresponding with a predicted increase in ungulate prey vulnerability the following year. Extraterritorial forays were associated with lower apparent survival rates, particularly after the initiation of lethal wolf control in the surrounding area. In general, mortalities tended to occur evenly throughout the year, whereas dispersal rates increased during late winter and early spring. Dispersals accounted for approximately half of the observed losses in our collared sample across all age classes (excluding known breeders), although yearlings were the most likely to disperse.

Sustained reductions in wolf densities outside the YUCH boundary during both wolf control programs also allowed us to directly assess the effects of reduced density on vital rates. Natality rates (estimated number of individuals added to each pack over the May–Aug interval) increased sharply over the course of each control program, suggesting a strong reproductive response to large-scale reductions in wolf densities in the surrounding area. Natality rates dropped rapidly between the 2 control programs, further supporting this conclusion. Smaller pack sizes and losses of known breeders were associated with lower natality rates per pack in the following year, suggesting human-caused mortality could have direct short-term effects on productivity by reducing pack sizes and removing breeders. However, although control can reduce the fecundity of individual packs in the short term, adjacent populations quickly respond to reduced wolf density by increasing natality rates.

Estimates of wolf density based on relocations of marked individuals within packs were dependent on sample size and could not be used to reliably estimate population growth rate (λ). As an alternative, we developed a new metric, λ*, which assessed whether natality was sufficient to offset population losses on an annual basis, under the assumption that the minimum functional unit in a wolf population is a breeding pair. When λ* decreased below 1.0 because of a combination of loss of individuals and the dissolution of packs, the population of interest effectively became a population sink reliant on immigrants from surrounding areas for maintenance. Based on estimates of λ*, we determined the YUCH study population was a source of wolves for the surrounding area in most years before implementation of lethal wolf control but became a population sink largely reliant on immigration from surrounding areas afterwards, despite the prohibition on control activities within YUCH. This finding has important implications for the management of protected areas, particularly in areas such as Alaska where wolf control is commonly implemented at large spatial scales. We expect λ* will be a useful tool for understanding wolf ecology and managing populations in other areas as well.

Overall, wolf vital rates were quite dynamic and responded quickly to changing conditions. The rapid increase in natality in an apparent response to decreased density strongly suggests that density dependence plays an important role in regulating wolf populations. Flexibility in dispersal and natality rates likely allow wolf populations to respond to variation in prey resources, wolf density, and mortality. These findings also suggest that sustainable harvest rates depend on annual variation in population vital rates. The clear impacts of management schemes in the area adjacent to YUCH suggests that effective conservation of protected areas may require more active management decisions than are often employed, particularly if the maintenance of unaltered system dynamics is a primary objective. © Published 2017. This article is a U.S. Government work and is in the public domain in the USA. Wildlife Monographs published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of The Wildlife Society.


Despite extensive public health campaigns, the consequences of alcohol intoxication continue to be a serious public health concern. Alcohol intoxication, for example, is a prevalent feature of crime, especially violent crime. Previous studies of alcohol intoxication and violent crime have used samples of police reports, correctional populations (arrestees, jail detainees, or convicted offenders), or community surveys. Studies using police reports and correctional populations are biased because few police-citizen encounters result in police reports or arrest. Community surveys avoid these biases but rely on the subject's assessment of both the victims' and the suspects' intoxication. We took a different approach and directly observed 2,365 police-citizen encounters. Observers used the Alcohol Symptom Checklist to determine the level of alcohol intoxication or impairment. We compared the prevalence of suspects' and victims' alcohol intoxication (equivalent to a blood alcohol level [BAL] of .05 or above) by type of encounter and computed odds ratios to assess the association between intoxication and type of encounter. We also controlled for demographic characteristics (race, gender, age, and socio-economic status) to assess the relationships among perpetration, victimization, and intoxication. Overall, suspects are far more likely than victims to be intoxicated; not surprisingly, suspects in public order/vandalism encounters are the most likely to be intoxicated. Alcohol intoxication appears to contribute substantially to violent victimization. The role of alcohol intoxication is largest among groups that, if not intoxicated, are generally less vulnerable to violence: whites, males, and persons of higher socio-economic status. We discuss the implications of these findings for services and public health policy.


Seed inoculation need and post-emergence herbicide effects, in the presence of endemic rhizobia population, were studied on plant growth, nodulation, symbiotic nitrogen fixation and grain yield of peanut (Arachis hypogaea L. cv Tatu) in a dark red latosol of Ribeirao Preto, SP, Brazil. The experiment was a split-plot design with the main plots arranged in a randomized complete block design with four replications. The effect of seed inoculation with recommended strains was studied in the main plots. Within each plot the effect of the herbicides was studied: fomesafen (250 g/ha), lactofen (192 g/ha), fluazifop-p-butyl (187 g/ha), haloxifop-methyl (240 g/ha) and fomesafen (250 g/ha) + fluazifop-p-butyl (187 g/ha) mixture applied in post-emergence. There was no herbicide effect on root dry weight. The shoot dry weight was higher when fomesafen, and mainly lactofen, were applied. Nodulation was affected only at 28 DAT, and nodule dry weight and nodules number were adversely affected by fluazifop-p-butyl. Inoculation treatment affected nitrogenase activity, which was higher with inoculated seed treatment. Symbiotic nitrogen fixation decreased four hours after herbicide treatment, fluazifop-p-butyl and haloxifop-methyl having been the most depressive. Seed inoculation did not affect grain yield indicating there is no need of this treatment when there is endemic rhizobia population. Peanut grain yield was affected by herbicides. The highest grain yield was observed with fomesafen + fluazifop-p-butyl mixture and with fomesafen and lactofen.


The paper introduces array channel division multiple access (AChDMA), which is a new blind algorithm for advanced SDMA in mobile communications systems. As an SDMA technique, AChDMA increases the system capacity by improving its time and frequency reuse. Being a blind algorithm, it requires no training sequences, previously known directions of arrival, or user codes, AChDMA separates the moving sources by tracking their multipath configuration and resolving their distinct generalized steering vectors. It maximizes a finite mixture log-likelihood function, combining an efficient initialization procedure with an EM-based algorithm that provides fast convergence to the global maximum. AChDMA reconstructs the mobile data sequences using only internal variables of the EM algorithm. These characteristics and its parallel structure make AChDMA suitable for real-time mobile communications. We test AChDMA with synthetic data in a number of different scenarios, illustrating the ability of the blind algorithm to separate and track in time the moving sources, and showing its good performance in a variety of practical situations.


Requirements for database systems differ from small-scale stripped minimal database programs for embedded devices with minimal footprint to large-scale on-line analytical processing applications. For relational database management systems, two storage architectures have been introduced: a) row-oriented architecture and b) column-oriented architecture. In this paper, we present a query decomposition approach to evaluate database operations with respect to their performance according to the storage architecture. We map decomposed queries to workload patterns which contain aggregated database statistics. Further, we develop our decision models which advise the selection of the optimal storage architecture for a given application domain. We develop complementary decision models to select the storage architecture. The first decision model improves the performance of running systems (on-line). The second and third decision model advises an efficient database design or decides which architecture is more suitable for a given application domain (off-line).


Human hand gesture is one of the natural ways used for communication for people. It also can be used for human-computer communications. So, Human hand gesture tracking and analys by artificial vision is a topic of interest. However, the high dimensions problem is one of the main barries on the way towards realtime tracking. A novel human hand gesture particle sampling method is put forward in this paper to deal with it. Microstructure of a Variable(MV), is firstly brought forward. Then, the Probability Graph(PG) is extracted from MV. Lastly, a new sampling method according to PG is presented. Both sampling and predicting are built on the base of stochastic multiple models in order to improve the tracking precision. Our experimental results demonstrate that, just using a few particles may effectively depict posteriori probability distributions in the particle filter tracking.


This method is used to isolate yeast genomic DNA or shuttle plasmids that replicated both in Saccharomyces cerevisiae and in E. coli.


Application-level monitoring of continuously operating software systems provides insights into their dynamic behavior, helping to maintain their performance and availability during runtime. Such monitoring may cause a significant runtime overhead to the monitored system, depending on the number and location of used instrumentation probes. In order to improve a system's instrumentation and to reduce the caused monitoring overhead, it is necessary to know the performance impact of each probe.

While many monitoring frameworks are claiming to have minimal impact on the performance, these claims are often not backed up with a detailed performance evaluation determining the actual cost of monitoring. Benchmarks can be used as an effective and affordable way for these evaluations. However, no benchmark specifically targeting the overhead of monitoring itself exists. Furthermore, no established benchmark engineering methodology exists that provides guidelines for the design, execution, and analysis of benchmarks.

This thesis introduces a benchmark approach to measure the performance overhead of application-level monitoring frameworks. The core contributions of this approach are 1) a definition of common causes of monitoring overhead, 2) a general benchmark engineering methodology, 3) the MooBench micro-benchmark to measure and quantify causes of monitoring overhead, and 4) detailed performance evaluations of three different application-level monitoring frameworks. Extensive experiments demonstrate the feasibility and practicality of the approach and validate the benchmark results. The developed benchmark is available as open source software and the results of all experiments are available for download to facilitate further validation and replication of the results.

This dataset supplements the thesis and contains a snapshot state of the MooBench micro-benchmark. Further updates are available in its git: http://git.kieker-monitoring.net/moobench.git


BIM was originally developed by the architecture, engineering and construction sector (AEC) to manage design and construction data. With level 2 BIM now mandated in the UK for Government Dept construction projects the industry is being forced to embrace the revolution. Eadie et al (2013) suggests that clients and facilities managers are likely to benefit most from BIM. Wilkinson (2015) acknowledges this stating 'To date the benefits and opportunities that can be realised from property professionals managing existing assets using BIM have been overlooked'. With around 80% of todays UK built environment still expected to be here by 2050 (CLG 2008) asset managers, occupiers and owners of these built assets will need to continue to find more efficient ways of managing this aging stock to meet the challenges of sustainability, obsolesce, running costs and regulatory compliance. As we become a more digital society it could be considered somewhat naive that our interaction with the built environment is exempt from this movement but across industry there appears to be a resistance or perhaps apathy to this.


The study of abstract groups is a challenging one for many undergraduate students. In this paper, we present an overview of a geometric context which can help students interpret and understand the structure of cyclic groups, as well as gain a broader conceptual understanding of such central ideas as subgroups and cosets. The authentic artistic context of star polygons can both motivate students to persist in a search for patterns and provide a concrete referent from which students can generalize algebraic ideas.


Residential relocation can have profound effects on people's mobilities. This article explores changes in the mobilities of people who were relocated to Great Love village, a newly built neighborhood in Aceh, Indonesia, after the devastating 2004 tsunami. The relative isolation of this neighborhood limits mobilities and work opportunities of the low-income population. However, women's mobilities became much more limited than men's. Building on the notion of mobility as a capability, the article discusses how access to this capability becomes gendered through everyday practices. It concludes that in this neighborhood limited physical mobility has led to social exclusion of women. Nevertheless, people also have reasons to stay, one of which is the prospect of future social mobility through homeownership.


Alzheimer's disease is the leading cause of dementia. Its increased prevalence in developed countries, due to the sharp rise in ageing populations, presents one of the costliest challenges to modern medicine. In order to find disease-modifying therapies to confront this challenge, a more complete understanding of the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease is necessary. Recent studies have revealed increasing evidence for the roles played by microglia, the resident innate immune system cells of the brain. Reflecting the well-established roles of microglia in reacting to pathogens and inflammatory stimuli, there is now a growing literature describing both protective and detrimental effects for individual cytokines and chemokines produced by microglia in Alzheimer's disease. A smaller but increasing number of studies have also addressed the divergent roles played by microglial neurotrophic and neurogenic factors, and how their perturbation may play a key role in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Here we review recent findings on the roles played by microglia in neuroinflammation, neuronal survival and neurogenesis in Alzheimer's disease. In each case, landmark studies have provided evidence for the divergent ways in which microglia can either promote neuronal function and survival, or perturb neuronal function, leading to cell death. In many cases, the secreted molecules of microglia can lead to divergent effects depending on the magnitude and context of microglial activation. This suggests that microglial functions must be maintained in a fine equilibrium, in order to support healthy neuronal function, and that the cellular microenvironment in the Alzheimer's disease brain disrupts this fine balance, leading to neurodegeneration. Thus, an understanding of microglial homeostasis, both in health and across the trajectory of the disease state, will improve our understanding of the pathogenic mechanisms underlying Alzheimer's disease, and will hopefully lead to the development of microglial-based therapeutic strategies to restore equilibrium in the Alzheimer's disease brain.


The conventional decision feedback equalizer (DFE) separates the different signal classes using a single hyperplane. It is well known that the popular minimum mean square error (MMSE) design is generally not the optimal minimum bit error rate (MBER) solution. We propose a method of designing the separating hyperplane for the conventional DFE based on support vector machines (SVMs). The SVM design achieves asymptotically the MBER solution and can be computed efficiently.


The early astrophysicist Norman Lockyer was both editor of the journal Nature from its creation in 1869 and for the following five decades, and an early practioner of the new astronomy. He frequently used the journal to expound his scientific theories, report on his work and send news home while on expeditions. I look into the particular visual culture of astrophysics developed by Lockyer in Nature, its evolution at a time of rapid development both of the techniques of astrophysical observation and visualization and of the techniques of image reproduction in print. A study of the use and reuse of visual materials in different settings also makes it possible to sketch the circulating economy of Lockyer's images and the ways in which he put himself forward as a scientist, at a time when he was advocating the State support of research and scientists and helping create the modern scientific journal.


A measure of association between two random variables is proposed, which represents a compromise between the classical correlation coefficient and the rank correlation coefficient. The new measure is based on the covariance between two variables where one variable is taken in its variate values while the other is ranked. The large sample distribution of this measure is studied and some possible applications are mentioned.


In this paper, we propose fusion of dynamic time of arrival (TOA) from multiple low complexity detectors like energy detectors operating at sub-Nyquist rate through Kalman filtering. We show that by having a multi-channel sub-Nyquist receiver with each channel having an energy detector can match the performance of a single channel digital receiver with matched filter. We derive analytical expression for number of sub-Nyquist energy detector channels needed to achieve the performance of digital implementation with matched filter and demonstrate in simulation the validity of our analytical approach. Results indicate that number of energy detectors needed will be high at low SNRs and converge to a constant number as the SNR increases. We also study the performance of the proposed strategy using IEEE 802.15.4a CM1 multipath channel model and show in simulation that two sub-Nyquist detectors are sufficient to match the performance of digital matched filter.


An interview in two sessions, June and July 2014, with Hans Georg Hornung, Clarence L. Johnson Professor of Aeronautics, emeritus, in the Division of Engineering and Applied Science.
Dr. Hornung describes the origins of the German Templer Colony in Palestine and his upbringing there before and during World War II. Family moves to Templer settlement, Melbourne, Australia, 1948. He attends technical college; University of Melbourne; master's in engineering, 1962. Researcher, Aeronautical Research Laboratories, Melbourne; PhD, Imperial College, London, 1965.
He recalls his academic career at the Australian National University, Canberra (1967-1980); his interest in hypersonics; building free-piston shock tunnel with Raymond Stalker. Sabbatical in Darmstadt with Ernst Becker. Seven years as director of fluid-mechanics institute of the DLR [Deutsches Zentrum fur Luft- und Raumfahrt], in Gottingen. Comes to Caltech in 1987 to succeed Hans W. Liepmann as director of GALCIT [Graduate Aerospace Laboratories, California Institute of Technology]. Recalls his various aero colleagues, his work with Rocketdyne on Caltech's T5 (successor to Canberra's T3 shock tunnel) and Ludwieg tube, collaboration with JPL on space program, and work with graduate students Simon Sanderson and Eric Cummings. Discusses his involvement in various scientific societies and his current activities and continuing research as an emeritus professor.


With the thriving of mobile app markets, third-party libraries are pervasively used in Android applications. The libraries provide functionalities such as advertising, location, and social networking services, making app development much more productive. However, the spread of vulnerable and harmful third-party libraries can also hurt the mobile ecosystem, leading to various security problems. Therefore, third-party library identification has emerged as an important problem, being the basis of many security applications such as repackaging detection, vulnerability identification, and malware analysis. Previously, we proposed a novel approach to identifying third-party Android libraries at a massive scale. Our method uses the internal code dependencies of an app to recognize library candidates and further classify them. With a fine-grained feature hashing strategy, we can better handle code whose package and method names are obfuscated than historical work. We have developed a prototypical tool called LibD and evaluated it with an up-to-date dataset containing 1,427,395 Android apps. Our experiment results show that LibD outperforms existing tools in detecting multi-package third-party libraries with the presence of name-based obfuscation, leading to significantly improved precision without the loss of scalability. In this paper, we extend our early work by investigating the possibility of employing effective and scalable library detection to boost the performance of large-scale app analyses in the real world. We show that the technique of LibD can be used to accelerate whole-app Android vulnerability detection and quickly identify variants of vulnerable third-party libraries. This extension paper sheds light on the practical value of our previous research.


Vaccination against infectious disease may be beneficial to reduce illness in vaccinated persons and disease transmission across the population. The welfare-economic practice of specifying a social welfare function and considering a planner who seeks to optimize welfare provides a constructive framework to evaluate vaccination policy. This paper characterizes choice of vaccination policy as a planning problem that aims to minimize the social cost of illness and vaccination. Manski (2010, 2017) studied vaccination as a problem of planning under uncertainty, assuming that a planner can choose any vaccination rate or that the planner has only two options: mandate or decentralize vaccination. The analysis focused on uncertainty regarding the effect of vaccination on disease transmission. Here I weaken the assumptions to recognize multiple uncertainties relevant to evaluation of policy for vaccination against COVID-19. These include uncertainty not only about the effect of vaccination on disease transmission, but also about the fraction of susceptible persons in the population, the effectiveness of vaccination in reducing illness and infectiousness, and the health risks associated with vaccination. The paper considers planning under ambiguity using the minimax and minimax-regret criteria, as well as planning using a subjective probability distribution on unknown quantities. It develops algorithms that may be applied flexibly to determine policy choices with specified degrees and types of uncertainty.


Abstract Metallurgical thermodynamics belongs to the field of chemical thermodynamics. It is of major importance to define an energy efficient strategy for the optimization of steelmaking plants. In this study, cost function for materials and energy usage in an electric arc furnace and ladle furnace at a steelmaking facility in Turkey is determined. Then, the cost function is solved by using the linear optimization method and versus constraints functions which are formed according to steel productions in the firm. After running a program used for optimization, some results are obtained. Production wastes and heavy melting scraps change from 910 to 5,500 kg and from 0 to 27,475.5 kg, respectively. Pig varies from 4,983 to 33,425 kg. Its minimum value is Ck22 1.1151 steel type and maximum value 38Cr2 1.7003 steel type. Coke value changes from 900 to 1,000 kg. Oxygen is varying as 4,000 or 4,180 kg for different steel types.


In North America, over 800 million strawberry crowns are produced by nurseries each year for the strawberry fruit industry. A modeling approach is a quantifiable method to help nurseries predict optimal crown harvest date and potential fruit yield associated with the annual strawberry crown growing environment. Most available models that quantify growth conditions, e.g., chilling effects, use controlled environment chambers and target prediction of time of strawberry flowering, not fruit yield. This study used commercial field fruit yield data over a 6-year period and five geographically distinct locations to construct models to predict the effects of chilling, diurnal temperature difference, and their interaction with daylength on fruit yield and time to flower. Accumulative chilling unit (ACU) was estimated by using nonweighted (simple, M0) and weighted (Mu (Utah Model), M1, M2) accumulation of effective temperature units. The results showed that flowering time correlated with accumulative chilling hours using either a simple (M0) accumulation model or a weighted accumu- lation model (Mu, M1, M2). The best correlation of flowering time with ACU was a quadratic function (y= 82.27 -0.049x +1.74e -5 x 2 ,where y=flowering time,x= ACU) and effective temperatures were from -2 to 15 8C. By contrast, fruit yield was only correlated with ACU using specific weighted accumulation models. The correlation was influenced by weighting factors and effective or inhibitive temperatures involved in the model. Therefore, temperatures have differential effects on fruit yield and on flowering time. Whenpooledacrossregionsandyears,fruit yieldcouldbepredicted onlybytheweighted accumulation Model 2 (M2), a quadratic function (y = -72.15 + 0.98x + 0.0022x 2 ) of the ACU accumulated from 45 d before crown harvest. Fruit yield response to ACU had an optimal level with yield reduction at other values. By contrast, fruit yield linearly increased with increasing difference in diurnal temperature across years and locations. However, the days to first flower were affected interactively by the diurnal temperature difference and daylength when geographically distinct locations are compared. The greater the difference in diurnal temperature at 2 to 3 months before crown harvest, the higher the subsequent fruit yield and the shorter the flowering time. An accumulative diurnal temperature unit of 180 degree-days resulted in 30% yield enhancement of Saskatchewan-grown crowns over California-sourced crowns. The greater diurnal temperature difference may be the major contributor to the Northern Vigour response of strawberry crowns produced in northern latitudes such as Saskatchewan.


ABSTRACT Gamma interferon (IFN-γ) plays a critical role in the protective immune responses against mycobacteria. We previously cloned a cDNA coding for guinea pig IFN-γ (gpIFN-γ) and reported that BCG vaccination induced a significant increase in the IFN-γ mRNA expression in guinea pig cells in response to living mycobacteria and that the virulent H37Rv strain of Mycobacterium tuberculosis stimulated less IFN-γ mRNA than did the attenuated H37Ra strain. In this study, we successfully expressed and characterized recombinant gpIFN-γ with a histidine tag at the N terminus (His-tagged rgpIFN-γ) in Escherichia coli. rgpIFN-γ was identified as an 18-kDa band in the insoluble fraction; therefore, the protein was purified under denaturing conditions and renatured. N-terminal amino acid sequencing of the recombinant protein yielded the sequence corresponding to the N terminus of His-tagged gpIFN-γ. The recombinant protein upregulated major histocompatibility complex class II expression in peritoneal macrophages. The antiviral activity of rgpIFN-γ was demonstrated with a guinea pig fibroblast cell line (104C1) infected with encephalomyocarditis virus. Interestingly, peritoneal macrophages treated with rgpIFN-γ did not produce any nitric oxide but did produce hydrogen peroxide and suppressed the intracellular growth of mycobacteria. Furthermore, rgpIFN-γ induced morphological alterations in cultured macrophages. Thus, biologically active rgpIFN-γ has been successfully produced and characterized in our laboratory. The study of rgpIFN-γ will further increase our understanding of the cellular and molecular responses induced by BCG vaccination in the guinea pig model of pulmonary tuberculosis.


Quality of crude drug material, plant preparations and finished products depend upon the content variation and stability during storage. The physical and chemical stability of a pharmaceutical product in the container in which it is to be marketed should be tested under defined storage conditions and the shelf-life should be established. This study was intended to determine the physical stability of three commercially available Lagundi (Vitex negundo) syrup products by exposing the different brands into various temperatures, level of pH. In order to determine the changes, which occurred in the product, positive control syrup was used. The viscosity, density, its color and microbial load of the product were also tested. Results show there that there was an existing significant difference (p<0.05) on the level of pH at 5oC, 15oC and 25oC. This means that three brands have different pH level and dependent on temperature. However, there was no significant difference on the density and color of the drug at specified temperatures but an existing significant difference on the viscosity of the syrup. Lastly, the microbial growth does not affect with the temperature during the storage condition. This study further suggests investigate at the 35oC storage temperature and sensitivity testing of the new commercially available lagundi product.


Purpose: This paper examines the long run performance of all the broad market stock indexes operational at NSE (National Stock Exchange, India) to determine the best performing index amongst them, thereby, recommending the best index for a passive investor to invest in for long term. Design/methodology/approach: The performance of all broad market stock indexes has been evaluated from 1stJanuary 2004 till 31st March 2014 using daily total return index values. The annualized return, annualized standard deviation, Sharpe ratio, Jensen alpha and Cahart four factor alpha have been used for performance evaluation. Findings: CNX Nifty, the flagship index of NSE, is successful in generating superior return over risk free rate, while, CNX Nifty Junior was found to be most profitable due to its highest annualized return. CNX Midcap was found to be least risky. On risk adjusted basis, using CAPM model, CNX Midcap was found to be most profitable. So, an investor planning to invest in broad based indexes, should consider CNX Midcap Index for investing. The positive Jensen alpha has been reduced to a negative Carhart alpha, when exposed to additional variables (i.e. size, value and momentum), showing that the excess returns evidenced by positive Jensen alpha were attributed to these factors and not due to superior index composition criteria. Research implications: The results of the test of joint hypothesis using CAPM revealed that CNX Nifty cannot be used to replicate most of the other broad market indexes namely CNX 200, CNX 500, CNX Midcap, CNX Small cap and CNX 100 Equal Weight. Practical implications: It shall help a passive investor in choosing the best index for investment. Originality/value: To the authors' knowledge, this is the first study that comprehensively investigates performance of all the broad market stock indexes at national stock exchange, India.


Xradia has developed a laboratory table-top transmission x-ray microscope, TXM 54-80, that uses 5.4 keV x-ray radiation to nondestructively image buried submicron structures in integrated circuits with at better than 80 nm 2D resolution. With an integrated tomographic imaging system, a series of x-ray projections through a full IC stack, which may include tens of micrometers of silicon substrate and several layers of Cu interconnects, can be collected and reconstructed to produce a 3D image of the IC structure at 100 nm resolution, thereby allowing the user to detect, localize, and characterize buried defects without having to conduct layer by layer deprocessing and inspection that are typical of conventional destructive failure analysis. In addition to being a powerful tool for both failure analysis and IC process development, the TXM may also facilitate or supplant investigations using scanning electron microscopy (SEM), transmission electron microscopy (TEM), and focused ion beam (FIB) tools, which generally require destructive sample preparation and a vacuum environment.


Atypical antipsychotics have replaced conventional antipsychotics in the treatment of schizophrenia because they have less of a propensity to cause undesirable neurologic adverse events including extrapyramidal symptoms, tardive dyskinesia, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS). However, atypical antipsychotics have been known to result in various metabolic complications such as impaired glucose tolerance, diabetes and even diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA). In addition, a number of NMS cases have been reported in patients treated with atypical antipsychotics, although the absolute incidence of neurologic side effects is currently significantly low. Here, we report a patient who simultaneously developed DKA, acute renal failure and NMS with rhabdomyolysis after olanzapine treatment. Olanzapine-induced metabolic complications and NMS were dramatically improved with cessation of the olanzapine treatment and initiation of supportive management including fluid therapy, hemodialysis, and intensive glycemic control using insulin. At short-term follow-up, insulin secretion was markedly recovered as evidenced by a restoration of serum C-peptide level, and the patient no longer required any hypoglycemic medications. Despite the dramatic increase in the use of atypical antipsychotics treatment, individualized treatments along with careful monitoring may be prudent for high risk or vulnerable patients in order to avoid the development of metabolic side effects.


This paper introduces and reflects on a master elective course for Interaction Design students titled Researching the Future Everyday. Aiming to equip students with the skills to critically adapt their own practices to the changing societal roles of design, the course guides students through a critical design approach with three key elements: a Science and Technology Studies paper that provides an alternative paradigm for assumed relations between design and societal issues, a Critical Design approach that makes the paradigm relatable for designers, and the use of Research Products to stimulate generalization of design implications beyond the exemplar. By analyzing ten student projects, we identify two patterns of using critical design to extend and enrich alternative paradigms. One uses oppositional designs to develop alternative design approaches. The other uses accelerational designs to extend alternative problem spaces. These patterns and their variations reveal avenues to further support students in developing critical practices.


Calcium is a micronutrient widely believed to affect bone heath, though the importance of normal variations in calcium intake may have been overemphasised.1 2 Because its principal dietary source is dairy products, and because high dairy intakes are not acceptable to many older people, there has been a strong move in recent decades to increase the intake of calcium by supplements. This is most prevalent for the prevention of postmenopausal osteoporosis, but is also used in the management of serum phosphate levels in patients with renal failure. However, the safety of calcium supplements is now coming under considerable scrutiny. Their use in osteoporosis had caused concern with respect to the risk of renal calculi, which is increased by about 20%.3 There has also been a longstanding awareness that they cause gastrointestinal symptoms, particularly constipation, but it is more alarming to find that they double the risk of admission to hospital with an acute abdominal condition.4 The concern that most threatens their continuing use, however, is their potential risk to cardiovascular health. Although there is trial evidence that calcium supplements can improve high-density lipoprotein/low-density lipoprotein ratios by almost 20%, and reduce both systolic and diastolic blood pressure by a few mm Hg, this does not appear to translate into fewer cardiovascular events. This concern first surfaced in nephrology practice with evidence that calcium supplements exacerbated vascular calcification and contributed to the very high cardiovascular mortality experienced by those patients. Randomised trials in pre-dialysis patients have demonstrated acceleration of coronary artery calcification,5 and some trials have shown increased cardiovascular mortality in patients randomised to calcium.6

More recently, the focus of concern about cardiovascular …


Contents: B.F. Jones, L. Idol, Introduction. S.G. Paris, P. Winograd, How Metacognition Can Promote Academic Learning and Instruction. J.G. Borkowski, M. Carr, E. Rellinger, M. Pressley, Self- Regulated Cognition: Interdependence of Metacognition, Attributions, and Self-Esteem. H.J. Klausmeier, Conceptualizing. K.J. Roth, Developing Meaningful Conceptual Understanding in Science. S.L. Kline, J.G. Delia, Reasoning About Communication and Communicative Skill. P.D. Pearson, T.E. Raphael, Reading Comprehension as a Dimension of Thinking. J.R. Hayes, Individuals and Environments in Writing Instruction. E.A. Silver, S.P. Marshall, Mathematical and Scientific Problem Solving: Findings, Issues, and Instructional Implications. R.D. Tweney, B.J. Walker, Science Education and the Cognitive Psychology of Science. H. Borko, R.J. Shavelson, Teacher Decision Making. S.J. Derry, Learning Strategies for Acquiring Useful Knowledge. J.D. Bransford, N. Vye, C. Kinzer, V. Risko, Teaching Thinking and Content Knowledge: Toward an Integrated Approach. D.N. Perkins, The Nature and Nurture of Creativity. R.W. Paul, Critical and Reflective Thinking: A Philosophical Perspective. R.S. Nickerson, Dimensions of Thinking: A Critique. B.F. Jones, L. Idol, Conclusions.


Proceedings: AACR 106th Annual Meeting 2015; April 18-22, 2015; Philadelphia, PA

INTRODUCTION

The immunosuppressive Prostate Cancer (PCa) microenvironment has a major influence on the progression of the disease and is a key challenge for immunotherapy considering that immune effector cells activated by such modalities, will be rendered anergic or regulatory once they enter this microenvironment. We have previously shown that IL-15 can activate NK and NKT cells to mediate cytotoxicity against PCa cells in lymphocyte-PCa cocultures and also that IL-15 can modulate NK receptors to shift the balance between activation and inhibition of NK cells. From initial data in PCa-lymphocyte cocultures, we also observed that IL-15 downregulated the inhibitory NK ligand HLA-BW4 on PCa cells, whereas the ligands MICA/MICB were not significantly affected. Due to the critical role of MICA and other activatory NK receptor ligands (aNKRL) such as Nectin-2 and ULBP1 on NK cell function we have now studied effects of IL-15 on the expression of aNKRLs MICA, Nectin-2 and ULBP1 both on the cell surface of PCa cells and in the supernatants of PCa-lymphocyte co-cultures.

METHODS

PC-3 and LNCaP PCa cell-lines were incubated with non-adherent PBMCs at effector:target ratios of 8:1 and cytokines IL-2 or IL-15. After 1 week, tumour cells were stained with antibodies to Nectin-2, MICA, and ULBP1 ligands. Flow cytometric analysis followed staining. MICA, Nectin-2 and ULBP1 ELISAs were performed with supernatants from these co-cultures of PCa cells and lymphocytes (and from PCa cells alone, treated with or without cytokines) to determine whether there was any effect of IL-15 on shedding of these ligands from the PCa cells.

RESULTS

We now show that MICA, Nectin-2 and ULBP1 ligands expressed on PC-3 cells were not significantly changed with IL-15 treatment in PCa-lymphocyte cocultures, however, on LNCaP cells, IL-15, (but not IL-2) downregulated MICA, Nectin-2 and ULBP1 ligands by upto 90%* (* = p<0.01,1-way-anova, post-hoc Newman-Keuls,n = 5).

In ELISAs measuring concentrations of MICA and Nectin-2 in the PCa-lymphocyte co-culture sups, IL-15, but not IL-2, upregulated concentrations of MICA by upto 145%* (* = p<0.01, 1-way-anova, post-hoc Newman-Keuls,n = 5), but also directly increased shed MICA in LNCaP without the presence of lymphocytes. Concentrations of Nectin-2 in the sups were however, not affected by IL-15 or IL-2. Shed ULBP1 is being currently investigated.

CONCLUSIONS

In contrast to previous findings with IL-15 where aNKRLs (e.g. MICA, ULBP1) on certain cell types are upregulated, we see a downregulation of MICA, ULBP1 and Nectin-2 ligand expression on LNCaP cells with a concomitant increase in shed MICA. Although the current paradigm has been that shed MICA can inhibit NK cell function, other groups are now showing that the shed ligand may actually activate NKG2D on NK cells and our findings that IL-15 dramatically increases NK cell functions against PCa cells may confirm this alternative paradigm.

Citation Format: Christina Alexandra Sakellariou, Oussama Elhage, Richard A. Smith, Prokar Dasgupta, Christine Galustian. IL-15 increases NK functions in the PCa-lymphocyte microenvironment by a profound increase in shedding of MICA from PCa cells - a novel paradigm. [abstract]. In: Proceedings of the 106th Annual Meeting of the American Association for Cancer Research; 2015 Apr 18-22; Philadelphia, PA. Philadelphia (PA): AACR; Cancer Res 2015;75(15 Suppl):Abstract nr 2340. doi:10.1158/1538-7445.AM2015-2340


Today, excessive nutrition and sedentary life have brought along many chron-ic diseases such as obesity and diabetes. As is known, obesity is a disorder of both energy metabolism and appetite regulation. In re-cent studies, it has been reported that AMPK regu-lates the metabolic energy balance as well as governs appetite control. When AMPK is activated, anabol-ic reactions are inhibited, while catabolic reactions are activated to produce energy. In addition to many pharmacological drugs and nutritional supplements, exercise activates AMPK and enhances the translo-cation of the glucose trans-porter (GLUT4) protein, which provides insulin-independent cellular glu-cose uptake. AMPK is an essential intracellular sensor against obesity because when AMP and LKB1 acti-vate AMPK, the use of body fat stores will be en-couraged to produce energy. Appetite-stimulating and suppressing agents act on AMPK to regulate both food intake and body weight control. When appe-tite suppressors such as leptin, insulin, metformin, inhibit AMPK leucine, and berberine, the expression of orexigenic neuropeptides are decreased while the expression of anorexigenic neuropeptides is increased. Understanding the mecha-nisms controlled by the hypothalamic AMPK is crucial for developing ef-fective nutritional strategies for the treatment of nutri-tional intake disorders such as obesity, diabetes mellitus, cardiovascular disease, hypertension and cancer.


In China, due to forest resource scarcity, the problem of timber supply shortage has been around for a long time. The recycling and utilization of tree residues may effectively alleviate the situation and will contribute to emissions reduction and environmental protection. Therefore, this study aims to identify the tree residue resources and estimates their quantity in order to provide a basis for related research, such as its comprehensive utilization. This study redefines and reclassifies tree residue resources, in particular, it adds three tree residue resources: tree seedling residue, sanitation felling residue and urban greening and trimmings. This study divides the forest final felling and bucking residue resource into the stumpage section and the non-stumpage section, respectively, scientifically selects values of the percent of merchantable volume and the proportion of non-stumpage biomass of the stumpage volume, separately estimates the quantity of bamboo felling, bucking and processing residues, classifies the forest product processing zone into the sawing section and the forest product processing section, and estimates the current waste wood recycling quantity by tracking the timber output of previous years. The estimation results for tree residue quantity indicate that China's tree residue reached 511.63 Mt in 2015, of which the forest tending and thinning residue was 406.76 Mt, nearly four-fifths of the total tree residue. Among the 31 provinces (municipalities and autonomous regions), more than half (55.57%) of the potential reserve of tree residues is distributed in the 13 provinces of southern China, 25% in the 10 provinces in the north, and approximately 20% in the plain and hilly areas. During the 12th Five-Year Plan period, the tree residue reserves showed positive growth. In the past three years (2014–2016), all state-owned forestry farms and collective-owned natural forests stopped commercial felling gradually, which directly resulted in a reduction of log output, thereby also curbing the growth of tree residue to a certain extent. Since the log output has ceased to further decline from 2017, it is predicted that China's tree residue will continue the upward trend.


Abstract : This report addresses the need for additional tool support for the Feature-Oriented Domain Analysis (FODA) methodology, developed at the Software Engineering Institute (SEI). Previous FODA studies relied on multiple tools to represent the components of a domain model. This report discusses the ability to represent an analyzed domain within the confines of a single support tool. This discussion was based on the transformation of a recently completed domain analysis from a multi-tool, multi- view representation into a single tool which represents the multiple views of a FODA domain model. This report also describes the potential for prototyping of systems using the FODA domain analysis products and the supporting tool.


The Multi-angle Imaging SpectroRadiometer (MISR) instrument consists of nine cameras, four spectral bands each, and an on-board calibrator (OBC). Experiments using the latter allow camera radiometric coefficients to be updated bimonthly. Data products are thus calibrated to a stable radiometric scale, even in the presence of instrument response changes. The camera, band, and pixel-relative calibrations are accurately determined using the OBC. Conversely, as the OBC itself is subject to response degradation, MISR also conducts annual field vicarious calibration campaigns. The first of these, conducted in June 2000 at a desert site in Nevada, has been used to establish the present absolute radiometric scale. Validation of this radiometric scale, using AirMISR, shows consistency to within 4%. Following these studies, however, it was determined that MISR radiometry is subject to scene-dependent effects due to ghosting that, for the Nevada test sites, reduces the apparent radiance by 3%. Correction for this effect is required in order to avoid radiometric errors over sites that do not exhibit the same background contrast. Additional studies are in progress, with plans to correct for scene-contrast effects in future Level 1B1 processing.


Athletic fields constructed with a high percentage of sand rely on the presence of above- and belowground turfgrass biomass to provide surface stability to athletes. As turfgrass plants are worn away during field use, their stabilizing effect is lost, increasing the potential for divoting. Excessive divoting results in poor footing and may increase the potential for athlete injury. The objectives of this research were to evaluate the effects of two trinexapac-ethyl (TE) treatment regimes and one cultivation procedure on the divot resistance, tiller density, belowground biomass, and turfgrass ground cover of nine Kentucky bluegrass (KBG) (Poa pratensis L.) cultivars under varying levels of simulated traffic. Trinexapac-ethyl (0.17 kg a.i. ha⁻¹) was applied every 28 d from either May–July or May–October. The cultivation treatment, which consisted of a combination of vertical mowing 1.3 cm below the soil surface and core cultivation, occurred in the spring of each year. Traffic was applied starting in late summer using a Brinkman traffic simulator. Treatments and KBG cultivars were evaluated for divot resistance by measuring the length of divots created using the head of a golf pitching wedge attached to the end of a weighted pendulum. Differences in divot resistance among KBG cultivars increased as traffic level intensified. The application of TE from May–July reduced divot length most relative to the control both years of the experiment (18 and 7% in 2006 and 2007, respectively). Tiller density and belowground biomass were increased by May–July application of TE by 9 and 8%, respectively, compared to the control. The application of TE from May–October and the cultivation treatment each reduced divot size in one of the two years. Results indicate that on fall-use KBG athletic fields with little to no play during the spring and summer, applying TE from May–July can increase divot resistance.


No description of accessory parotid lymph nodes in the ox was found in the 25 references consulted. Accessory parotid lymph nodes in two fresh ox heads were found. One of the lymph nodes was located in the temporal fossa on the cornual A., between the artery and the zygomatico- temporal N. and the other one on the route of the lacrimal br. (A) and external ophthalmic V., ventral to the zygomatico-temporal N. The lymph nodes were atypical. The supportive tissue was primarily smooth muscle, no subcapsular or cortical sinuses were seen; no medullary region was evident and the lymphatic tissue was diffuse with no evidence of nodule formation. Two hemal nodes were found in the second and a third fresh ox head obtained from the same source. Both were located on the route of the lacrimal br. of the cornual A. The largest hemal node was normal histologically, with blood-filled sinuses and prominent, active lymphatic nodules. The small hemal node was somewhat atypical in that no trabeculae penetrated the parenchyma and the cortical lymphatic tissue was diffuse with no nodule formation.


Microstructural evolution and mechanical properties of Al-4.11 wt% Cu alloys subjected to multi-axial compression (MAC) and subsequent annealing were investigated. To clarify the influence of precipitated phases on mechanical properties, special samples containing only one kind of precipitated phase were prepared. During MAC at room temperature, θ"-phase-contained and θ′-phase-contained samples simultaneously showed increased strength and ductility as a function of MAC passes. This was ascribed to the considerable dissolution of precipitated phases induced by MAC that formed a supersaturated solid solution. In subsequent annealing at 393 K for 1 h, new precipitated phases appeared and the strength and ductility of deformed samples increased as precipitation proceeded. Additionally, transmission electron microscopy indicated that the MAC process accelerated the phase precipitations. Annealed mechanical properties were a function of MAC passes, annealing time, and temperature. In this study, an optimum comprehensive mechanical property was achieved in the θ"-phase-contained specimen, after eight passes of MAC and 1 h annealing at 393 K.